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    A function of your portal, in full

    Every payment gets its invoice, with the right tax, without you.

    When a customer pays on your portal, the portal writes the invoice: your company details, the next number in your series, and the tax worked out from the customer's country and yours. The customer finds it on their own My Invoices page as a PDF, so the shop writes no invoice by hand and answers no email asking for one.

    An invoice is the one document every customer needs and no tuner wants to write. On the portal it is made by itself. The moment a payment for credits, or for an order in the activation shop, is confirmed, the portal takes the next number of your series, puts your company name, address and tax numbers on the document, works out the tax and makes the PDF. It is filed under the customer who paid, and they can download it whenever they need it.

    Three places hold all of it. My Invoices is the customer's page: their own invoices, newest first, with the totals at the top. The Invoices section of Settings is where you decide what the document says and looks like: your address and contact lines, your bank details for customers who pay by transfer, the legal lines some countries ask for, the logo and colours, the number prefix and the wording of the line. The same section links the portal to Lexware or Holded, so each invoice also lands in your accounting software. The VAT and tax section decides what tax is charged and why.

    Tax is the part shops fear, and it is mostly a matter of answering a few questions once. Are you registered for VAT, or a small business exempt from it? Do you sell to businesses in other EU countries, who account for the VAT themselves? What should happen when a customer has not said which country they are in? The portal applies the answers to every sale: the rate for the customer's country, no tax on an export, the reverse charge for an EU business with a VAT number, and a note on the invoice that says why a rate is zero. Shops in GST countries are covered by the same switch, with the Indian split by state.

    None of this replaces your accountant. The portal prints what you give it and applies the rules you switch on; which rules apply to your business is a question for the person who signs your returns. What the portal takes away is the typing, the numbering and the chasing.

    A shop's day without it

    A customer writes in March asking for last year's invoices, for their accountant. Someone at the shop searches the mailbox, finds four of the six payments, writes two invoices by hand from the bank statement, numbers them after the fact and hopes the sequence still makes sense. A garage in another country asks why it was charged VAT when it gave its VAT number, and nobody remembers what was agreed. At the end of the quarter the same invoices are typed a second time into the accounting software. An afternoon is gone each time, and the next customer with the same question is a week away.

    From a payment to an invoice in your name.

    What the portal does between a customer paying and the PDF sitting on their My Invoices page, with nobody at the shop involved.

    1. The payment is confirmedA customer buys credits, or pays for an order in the activation shop. Nothing is written before the payment is confirmed.
    2. The tax is worked outFrom the customer's billing country and yours, by the rules you switched on in VAT and tax.
    3. The next number is takenYour prefix, the year and a running number for that year. A number already used is refused, so the series has no doubles.
    4. The document is madeYour company name, address and tax numbers, your logo and colours, your wording of the line, and the reason beside any zero rate.
    5. The customer has itOn My Invoices, first as Pending while the PDF is made, then as Paid with its download.
    6. Your books have itWith Lexware or Holded linked, the invoice is sent on, by hand from the list or by itself when you switch that on.

    Which tax a sale carries, question by question.

    With Charge VAT on, the portal puts the same questions to every sale and prints the answer on the invoice.

    1. Small business?With Small business, no VAT on, no sale is charged VAT, before any other rule is looked at, and every invoice prints the exemption note.
    2. Where is the customer?The rate is the one for the customer's billing country. With no country on file, your own country is used, or the fallback country you named.
    3. An export?A sale that counts as an export carries no tax, and the invoice says why the rate is zero.
    4. An EU business with a VAT number?With the reverse charge on, a business in another member state pays no VAT and the invoice carries its VAT number and the note. You can ask that only checked numbers count.
    5. On your own list?After the export and reverse charge rules, your list of tax-free countries: a customer from one of them is charged no tax, with a note that the country is exempt by your setting.

    The portal applies the rules you switch on. Which rules apply to your business is a question for your accountant.

    Where the customer meets the invoice.

    The customer's credits page on a sample portal. The invoice of a purchase is shown beside the purchase here, and kept on My Invoices.

    Credits, a screen of the portal (sample shop)
    1. Credits at a glanceWhat the customer has, has bought and has used, on their side of the portal.
    2. How credits workBuy a pack, send a file, the credits come off, download the tune.
    3. Invoiced at onceEvery top-up is invoiced in your name the moment it is paid.

    A sample shop; your portal carries your name.

    What you find on it

    My Invoices: the customer's page

    My Invoices is in every customer's menu from the first day, in every package. It shows the signed-in customer their own invoices and nobody else's: the totals at the top, then the list, each invoice a PDF to download. There is nothing to switch on. It lists and downloads; it does not send, so a customer who wants an invoice in their inbox downloads it and forwards it.

    At a glance
    Four cards: how many invoices there are, the total spent, how many invoices are still being made, and the date of the last one. The total spent counts money that actually left the customer, once. A tool activation paid with credits gets its own document recording what the credits bought, but that money was counted when the credits were bought, so it is not added again. A customer with nothing yet reads zeros, not an error.
    Download an invoice
    The list, newest first and twenty to a page. Each row has the invoice number, the date, the amount with tax included and the tax shown when there is any, the way it was paid and its status. Paid rows carry the PDF button. Pending means the payment is confirmed and the PDF is still being made in the background; the row is there so the customer knows it is coming, and the download appears when it is ready. On a phone each row is a card with its download underneath.
    Buy credits
    One button to Purchase Credits, at the top of the page and in the empty state. A customer who has bought nothing yet sees a page that explains itself: invoices appear here once they purchase credits. The invoice of a purchase joins the list when the payment is confirmed, and it is shown beside the purchase on the credits page too.

    Invoices settings

    Settings → Money → Invoices. The section decides whether the portal writes invoices at all, what each one says about your company, how it looks and how it is numbered. It also holds the two accounting links, Lexware for shops in Germany and Holded for shops in Spain, which come with Business and above, and the name of the person who sees notes about your portal's own account.

    Its settings, one by one (32) ›

    VAT and tax settings

    Settings → Money → VAT and tax. The section holds your VAT and tax numbers and the switches that decide what tax a sale carries: whether VAT is charged, the small business exemption, the reverse charge for EU businesses, what happens when a customer has no country, your own list of tax-free countries, and the settings a shop under GST needs.

    Its settings, one by one (12) ›

    How it works

    1. Fill in the Invoices section once: your address, email and phone, your registration number, your bank details if customers pay by transfer, your logo and two colours. Choose the letters your invoice numbers start with before the first invoice is written.
    2. In VAT and tax, type your VAT number and answer the tax questions with your accountant: charge VAT or not, small business exemption or not, reverse charge for EU businesses or not.
    3. A customer buys credits, or pays for an order in the activation shop. When the payment is confirmed, the portal works out the tax from the customer's billing country and yours, takes the next number of the year in your series and writes the invoice.
    4. The invoice appears on the customer's My Invoices page, first as Pending while the PDF is made, then as Paid with its download. A zero rate carries its reason on the document: an export, a reverse charge, an exemption.
    5. If you have linked Lexware or Holded, the invoice is sent on: by hand from the invoice list, or by itself when you switch that on. The customer is matched there by email, or created from their details.
    6. At tax time the customer downloads their own set, and your books already hold the same invoices under the same numbers.

    Who it is for

    • The ownerSets the company details, the numbering, the look and the tax rules once, with the accountant beside them. After that every invoice is made without the owner.
    • Your teamStop forwarding documents. The answer to "can you send me the invoice" is that it is on the customer's own page, and a money question is settled by reading the same list the customer sees.
    • Your customersDownloads their own invoices whenever they need them, for an accountant or their own books, and sees what they have spent in total, without writing to the shop.
    • Your dealersA garage that buys credits as a trade customer gets a proper invoice for each purchase, with the seller's company details and VAT number on it, and finds the year's set in one place at tax time.

    Every setting, explained

    Invoices settings

    32 settings

    Settings → Money → Invoices. The section decides whether the portal writes invoices at all, what each one says about your company, how it looks and how it is numbered. It also holds the two accounting links, Lexware for shops in Germany and Holded for shops in Spain, which come with Business and above, and the name of the person who sees notes about your portal's own account.

    Make invoices automatically

    Writes an invoice for every credit purchase and every activation shop order the moment the payment is confirmed, whichever way the customer paid, and files it under their My Invoices. Off, no invoice is written and the payment confirmation does not promise one. Invoices written before you switched it off stay where they are.

    How it comes
    On.
    When to change it
    Keep it on for a shop whose customers need a document for every payment. Switch it off only when your own accounting software issues the invoices and a second one would confuse the books.
    For example
    A shop that invoices from its own program switches it off; its customers get the payment confirmation and the invoice from the shop's accountant.

    Billing contact

    Your portal has its own account with TunerEngine: the package, the add-ons, the balance. Notes about it are shown inside the portal to one person only, and this names that person. Only an administrator or the portal owner can be named; anyone else is ignored. It has nothing to do with your customers' invoices.

    How it comes
    Nobody named: the notes go to the portal owner, or to the first administrator when there is no owner account.
    When to change it
    Set it when someone other than the owner pays the bills, or when the owner account is rarely used. Leave it on a one-person shop.
    For example
    The office manager, an administrator, is named here and sees the account notes the owner never opened.

    Invoice main colour

    The colour of the header band and the headings on the invoice. It changes the invoice only; the portal's own colours are set under your brand.

    How it comes
    A plain blue.
    When to change it
    Set it when you upload the invoice logo, so the two agree. A dark colour reads best in the header band.
    For example
    A shop picks the dark green of its logo, and the invoice stops looking like a generic form.

    Invoice second colour

    The colour of the accents on the invoice, beside the main colour. Like the main colour, it is used on the invoice only.

    How it comes
    A soft violet.
    When to change it
    Set it whenever you set the main colour. A logo with one colour is best served by a lighter shade of the same one.
    For example
    A shop with a one-colour logo uses a pale tint of it here, and the header and the accents read as one identity.

    Website on invoices

    Your own website, printed under the company name in the header of every invoice. It is also one of the facts the Telegram assistant gives a customer who asks about your business. It does not change any link on the portal.

    How it comes
    Empty: the header shows the company name alone.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when you have a website of your own. Leave it empty before putting the portal's own address there, which the customer already knows.
    For example
    An accountant who has never seen the portal reads the shop's website under its name and knows who issued the invoice.

    Address on invoices

    Your business address, written as you want it printed. It goes in the issuer block of every invoice and on the account statement a customer downloads from the credits page, and the Telegram assistant gives it when a customer asks where you are. It is not the address in the portal's footer, which is set under your brand.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Fill it in before the first invoice is written: an invoice without the issuer's address is not one an accountant can book. Change it the day the company moves.
    For example
    A shop types the address exactly as its registration has it, on three lines, and every invoice carries it that way.

    BIC / SWIFT code

    Your bank's BIC, which banks also call the SWIFT code, printed under the IBAN in the bank details block. Like the bank name, it shows only while the IBAN is set.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when you take transfers from customers abroad, who are asked for it by their bank. A shop paid by card only can leave it empty.
    For example
    A dealer in another country pays an invoice by transfer on the first try, because the code their bank asked for was on it.

    Bank IBAN

    Your account number, printed as typed and labelled IBAN. It does more than print: while it is filled in, every invoice carries a bank details block; while it is empty, the block is not there at all. It changes nothing about how a payment is taken. A transfer arrives at your bank, not at the portal, and you match it to the customer and add the credits.

    How it comes
    Empty: no bank details block.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when customers pay by transfer. A shop that takes cards only is better leaving it empty, so nobody pays by transfer and waits for credits a card would have given at once.
    For example
    A master whose dealers pay monthly by transfer prints the IBAN, and each dealer has the account on the document in front of them.

    Bank name

    The name of your bank, printed as the first line of the bank details block. The block exists only while Bank IBAN is set, so the name is never printed on its own.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Fill it in whenever you fill in the IBAN, written the way your bank writes it on its own documents. Leave both empty on a shop that takes cards only.
    For example
    A shop wonders why its bank name is missing from the invoice; the IBAN was empty, and with it filled in the name appears above it.

    Company director

    The director or legal representative of your company, printed and marked as the director in the company strip at the foot of every invoice, beside the registration number and the court.

    How it comes
    Empty: the line is not printed.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when you sell to businesses in Germany or Austria, or wherever your accountant says the name belongs on the document. A sole trader can leave it empty.
    For example
    A limited company adds its director's name after its tax adviser lists it among the lines an invoice must carry.

    Email on invoices

    The email printed in the issuer block and in the company strip at the foot of every invoice, and on the account statement. It is also where a reply to a booking email lands when you have set no support address. It is not the address your portal sends from.

    How it comes
    Empty: the address your portal sends its emails from is printed instead.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when the sending address is not one you read. Leave it when the sending address is your office.
    For example
    A shop that sends from a no-reply address prints its accounts mailbox here, and billing questions arrive where someone answers them.

    Phone on invoices

    The number printed in the issuer block of every invoice, after the email, exactly as typed. It is printed on the invoice only; the number in the portal's footer and the one the assistant gives are set under your brand.

    How it comes
    Empty: no number is printed.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when you take calls about billing, with the country code if you sell abroad. Leave it empty when every question should come by email.
    For example
    A shop prints its office line here and keeps the tuner's mobile off every document.

    Registration court

    The court your company is registered at, printed after the registration number in the company strip at the foot of every invoice. German law asks for it on a company's invoices.

    How it comes
    Empty: nothing is printed.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when your company is in the German trade register. Leave it empty elsewhere, unless your accountant asks for it.
    For example
    A German company fills in the court, the number and the director, and the foot of its invoice reads as the law expects.

    Company registration number

    Your company's number in the trade register. It is printed in the company strip at the foot of every invoice and shown in the contact line of your portal's footer, next to the VAT number. It is not the VAT number, which has its own setting.

    How it comes
    Empty: nothing is printed.
    When to change it
    Fill it in as soon as the portal is set up. It is one of the details a business checks before paying a new supplier.
    For example
    A garage's bookkeeper looks the shop up by the number in the footer before approving the first purchase.

    Holded API key

    The key from your Holded account that lets the portal write invoices and look up contacts there. It is stored as a secret and not shown again once saved. Test connection asks Holded whether the key is accepted and names the error if not.

    How it comes
    Empty: the Holded link is on in name only.
    When to change it
    Set it the day you switch on the Holded sync. Make a new key in Holded and paste it again if you think the old one has been seen by someone who should not have it.
    For example
    The owner pastes the key, presses Test connection and gets a yes before sending the first invoice.

    Send each invoice to Holded

    Sends every new invoice to Holded the moment the portal writes it, once each. An error Holded gives is written on the invoice, where you can read it and send again by hand. Invoices written before you switched it on are sent by hand, one at a time. Comes with Business and above.

    How it comes
    Off: you send invoices by hand from the invoice list.
    When to change it
    Switch it on after the first hand-sent invoice looks right in Holded. Leave it off while you are still choosing the line wording and the fallback contact.
    For example
    Holded is unreachable for an hour; two invoices show the error, and the owner sends them again that evening.

    Holded fallback contact

    The Holded contact an invoice goes to when the customer could not be found by email and could not be created. It is used only after both have failed, so the invoice is still in your books and can be moved later.

    How it comes
    Empty: Holded makes the contact itself from the name and email on the document.
    When to change it
    Set it before you switch on automatic sending, so the first odd customer has somewhere to land. Leave it empty if you would sooner let Holded create the contact.
    For example
    A shop keeps one contact for unmatched sales and clears it out with its bookkeeper once a month.

    Holded invoice sync

    Copies your invoices into Holded, the accounting software many Spanish shops use. Each invoice arrives as one document: its date, its currency, your portal's language, the customer matched by email or created with their details, one line with the amount before tax and the VAT rate, and the invoice number in the notes. The Holded reference and any error are kept on the invoice. It copies the invoices the portal writes, so it needs Make invoices automatically on. Comes with Business and above.

    How it comes
    Off.
    When to change it
    Switch it on when your books are in Holded and the portal writes your invoices. One Disconnect button switches it off and clears the key.
    For example
    A shop in Spain links Holded and finds each sale in its books the same day, under the right customer.

    Holded line wording

    What the invoice line is called in Holded when the invoice names no credit package. An invoice that came from a credit package keeps that package's name on its line. It names lines as they are sent; lines already in Holded stay as they are.

    How it comes
    Empty: the line is called "Tuning credits".
    When to change it
    Set it before the first invoice goes to Holded, so the books do not start with a name you will change.
    For example
    An accountant wants every such line under one name, and the shop types that name here once.

    Invoice footer

    Text printed at the bottom of every invoice, under the amounts. It is a text box, so it takes several lines. The bank details have their own fields and their own place; use the footer for terms and words.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Fill it in when you set the portal up, before the first paying customer. Change it when your terms change.
    For example
    A shop writes one line of payment terms and one line of thanks, and both close every invoice.

    Invoice line wording

    An invoice has one line: what the customer paid for. This replaces the name of the credit package on that line with words of your own, on the invoice, on the receipt email of the payment and on the copy sent to Lexware. It changes only the words; the figures come from the purchase. A top-up of the account balance keeps its own wording.

    How it comes
    Empty: the line carries the name of the credit package bought.
    When to change it
    Set it when your accountant or your customers' bookkeepers need the line to name a service and not a pack of credits. If the package names read well, leave it.
    For example
    A shop sets "ECU software services", and its trade customers' bookkeepers stop asking what a pack of credits is.

    Invoice line second line

    A smaller line printed under the invoice line wording, on the invoice and on the receipt email. It goes to Lexware as the description of the line. It belongs to the wording above it: set that first.

    How it comes
    Empty: nothing is printed.
    When to change it
    Use it when the main wording alone leaves a question. Leave it empty if the first line says enough.
    For example
    Under "ECU software services" a shop adds "prepaid credits for file work", the note its accountant asked for.

    Invoice number prefix

    An invoice number is made of three parts: the letters you choose here, the year, and a running number for that year. You choose the letters; the portal keeps the count, starts it again each year and refuses a number already used. One separator follows the letters however you typed them.

    How it comes
    The letters INV.
    When to change it
    Set it before the first invoice, to match the series your accountant expects. Changing it later changes the letters on new invoices only; the year's count carries on.
    For example
    A shop that also invoices workshop jobs from another program uses "TF" here, so the accountant tells the portal's invoices from the rest at a glance.

    Country invoice layouts

    Uses your country's own invoice layout when the portal has one, going by the country of your business. Today it has one for India, the GST invoice. For every other country the standard layout is used, so switching it on changes nothing there.

    How it comes
    Off: every invoice prints in the standard layout.
    When to change it
    Switch it on when your business is in India. Elsewhere it makes no difference today, so leave it off.
    For example
    A shop in India switches it on, sets its state and its service code, and its invoices carry the GST lines in their place.

    Lexware API key

    The key your Lexware account issues for software that works with it. It is shown hidden on the page. The Test button asks Lexware whether the key works and shows the company it belongs to, or the error Lexware returned. Disconnect clears the key and switches the sync and the automatic sending off; invoices already in Lexware stay there.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Paste it when you connect Lexware. Replace it if you make a new key there.
    For example
    The owner pastes the key, presses Test and reads the company name back before any invoice is sent.

    Send each invoice to Lexware

    Hands each new invoice to Lexware as soon as the portal makes it, in the background, trying again if Lexware is busy. An invoice that already has its Lexware number is never sent twice. If sending keeps failing, the error is kept on the invoice and you can send it again by hand. Invoices made before you switched it on go with Resync all. Comes with Business and above.

    How it comes
    Off: invoices are sent by hand.
    When to change it
    Switch it on once the Test passes and the first invoice sent by hand looks right in Lexware. Leave it off while you are still checking what arrives.
    For example
    After three hand-sent invoices arrive as expected, the owner switches it on and stops opening the invoice list.

    Lexware fallback contact

    The Lexware contact an invoice is filed under when its customer cannot be found by email and cannot be created from their details. It is the last resort and is never used otherwise. The id is not checked when you save it; a wrong one shows as an error on the first invoice that needs it.

    How it comes
    Empty: such an invoice fails with an error you can read on it.
    When to change it
    Set it when you connect Lexware, so the first odd invoice has somewhere to go. Leave it empty if your accountant would sooner see a failed invoice than one under a catch-all.
    For example
    A shop makes a contact called "Portal, unmatched" in Lexware and pastes its id here.

    Lexware prices are

    Tells Lexware how to read every amount the portal sends. It does not change what the customer pays.

    • Including VAT (gross) The invoice total is sent as an amount with VAT in it.
    • Before VAT (net) The amount before VAT is sent, and Lexware adds the rate.
    • VAT free The full amount is sent with no VAT on top.
    • EU intra-community supply The full amount is sent as a supply to a business in another EU country, with no VAT on top.
    How it comes
    Including VAT (gross).
    When to change it
    Set it with your accountant when you connect Lexware, before the first invoice goes across. Change it only when your tax status changes.
    For example
    A small business exempt from VAT chooses VAT free, so Lexware books no tax on any line.

    Lexware VAT rate

    The VAT rate put on every invoice line sent to Lexware, which Lexware uses to book the tax. It works with the setting above, which says whether that rate is already in the amount. It does not change the VAT a customer is charged.

    • 19 % The standard German rate.
    • 7 % The reduced German rate.
    • 0 % No VAT on the line.
    How it comes
    19 %.
    When to change it
    Set it when you connect Lexware. Change it only if your sales move to another rate; the link is built for a business in Germany, which is why these three are offered.
    For example
    A German shop leaves the standard rate and gross amounts, and its lines book correctly without a second look.

    Lexware invoice sync

    Connects the portal to your Lexware account, the accounting software many German shops and their tax advisers use. Each invoice can be sent there, filed under the customer found by email or created from their details, with your wording, your VAT rate and your tax status. The amounts go across in the currency Lexware expects for a business in Germany. From the same section you test the key, send every unsent invoice with Resync all, export a list of what went across and what failed, and bring in recent Lexware vouchers for a check. Comes with Business and above.

    How it comes
    Off: no invoice leaves the portal.
    When to change it
    Switch it on when your accountant works in Lexware, from the first invoice. A shop on other software exports its invoices instead.
    For example
    A German shop links Lexware on day one, and its tax adviser never asks for an invoice list again.

    Finalise in Lexware

    Decides how an invoice arrives in Lexware: as a draft for you to open, check and finalise, or already finalised, numbered and booked. It applies to invoices sent after the change; drafts already there are finalised in Lexware by hand.

    How it comes
    Off: invoices arrive as drafts.
    When to change it
    Keep it off for the first invoices after connecting, so the wording, the rate and the contact can be checked. Switch it on when your accountant is happy with what arrives.
    For example
    A shop runs a month on drafts, finds nothing to correct, and lets invoices arrive finished from then on.

    VAT and tax settings

    12 settings

    Settings → Money → VAT and tax. The section holds your VAT and tax numbers and the switches that decide what tax a sale carries: whether VAT is charged, the small business exemption, the reverse charge for EU businesses, what happens when a customer has no country, your own list of tax-free countries, and the settings a shop under GST needs.

    State or province

    Under Indian GST, a sale within your state is shown as two taxes, each at half the rate, and a sale to another state as one tax at the full rate. The portal chooses from your state and the customer's billing state, compared as written. A customer with no state is treated as in yours. The total is the same either way.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Set it when your portal's country is India and you charge GST. Elsewhere it changes nothing.
    For example
    A shop in one Indian state sells to a customer in another, and the invoice shows the single interstate tax.

    Tax number

    A national tax number that is not your VAT number, such as the German Steuernummer, printed on every invoice next to your business details under the label Tax No. An invoice can carry both numbers.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Set it when your country gives you such a number. Leave it empty if your only number is your VAT number.
    For example
    A German sole trader with no VAT number prints the Steuernummer, which its invoices must carry.

    VAT number

    Your VAT number, printed on every invoice with your business details, on the credit account statement a customer downloads, and in the portal's footer. Typing it does not switch VAT on; charging VAT is a separate switch.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Set it before the first sale if you are registered: a business customer cannot reclaim VAT from an invoice without it. If you are not registered, leave it empty.
    For example
    A shop enters its number in the setup guide, and a trade customer's first invoice is one their accountant can book.

    HSN/SAC code

    The service code printed on each line of the Indian GST invoice. One code is printed on every line. It is read only by the country invoice layout, so that must be switched on.

    How it comes
    A code is already filled in; replace it with the one your accountant gives you.
    When to change it
    Set it when your portal invoices under Indian GST. Shops in other countries never see it used.
    For example
    An accountant gives the shop the code its registration uses, and it is typed here once.

    No GST for customers abroad

    In a GST country, a customer whose billing country differs from yours pays no GST, as an export of services, and the invoice says why. A customer with no country is treated as at home. It is for GST countries only; VAT has its own export rules, applied without this switch.

    How it comes
    On.
    When to change it
    Leave it on in the normal case. Switch it off only when your accountant says your sales abroad are taxable.
    For example
    A shop in a GST country sells a pack to a garage abroad; the invoice shows no GST and the export reason.

    Tax-free countries

    Your own list of countries whose customers are charged no tax, as two-letter country codes separated by commas or spaces. It is checked after the export and reverse charge rules, so it only adds exceptions. The invoice carries no tax line and a note that the country is exempt by your setting.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Most shops leave it empty: exports and EU business sales are handled already. Use it when a territory your accountant names is taxed wrongly by the standard rules.
    For example
    An accountant names one territory that must not be taxed; the shop adds its code, and customers there see no tax from the next sale.

    VAT country fallback

    The country whose VAT is charged when a customer has no billing country and the switch above is off or your business country is empty. If this too is empty, the sale is charged no VAT and the portal notes the gap.

    How it comes
    Empty.
    When to change it
    Most shops never need it. Set it when your VAT is owed in another country than your address, as your accountant directs.
    For example
    A shop whose accountant wants unknown buyers taxed at one named country's rate switches the home fallback off and names that country here.

    Charge VAT

    Off, nothing on the portal is taxed and no tax is shown anywhere. On, every sale gets tax at the rate for the customer's country, or yours when theirs is unknown, with the export, reverse charge and exemption rules behind it, and every invoice prints the rate, the amount and the reason for a zero rate. It covers GST countries too. It opens the reverse charge, fallback and tax-free country settings.

    How it comes
    Off.
    When to change it
    On from the first day if you are registered. Off if you are not; a small business exempt from VAT uses its own switch below. If a test purchase shows no tax, the business country is most often empty.
    For example
    A registered shop switches it on, buys a pack as a test customer at home and reads its own country's rate on the invoice.

    Use your country for VAT

    Charges your own country's VAT to a customer whose billing country is empty. It is read only in that case and comes before the fallback country below.

    How it comes
    On.
    When to change it
    Leave it on. Switch it off only when your accountant wants sales to unknown countries zero rated, or taxed at the rate of a country other than yours.
    For example
    A customer buys before filling in a country and is charged the shop's home rate, not nothing.

    Reverse charge for businesses

    Inside the EU, a sale to a business in another member state is taxed by the buyer. With this on, a customer with a VAT number on file and a billing country in another EU state than yours pays no VAT, and the invoice carries their VAT number and the reverse charge note. Businesses in your own country and private customers anywhere are taxed as before. Any number typed counts unless the next switch is on.

    How it comes
    Off.
    When to change it
    On if you are in the EU and sell to businesses in other member states. Off if all your customers are at home or private, or you are outside the EU.
    For example
    A garage in another EU country adds its VAT number to its billing details, and its next invoice has no VAT line and the note its accountant expects.

    Only checked VAT numbers

    Checks a customer's VAT number against the EU register the moment they save it. The VAT comes off only when the number is confirmed, by the register or by you by hand. While a number is unconfirmed, or the register could not be reached, VAT is still charged until a check succeeds.

    How it comes
    Off: any number typed counts.
    When to change it
    On if you sell across EU borders at any volume. Off if your reverse charge sales are few and you know each buyer.
    For example
    A customer types a made-up number to avoid VAT; the register does not confirm it, and the purchase is taxed as usual.

    Small business, no VAT

    Charges no VAT on any sale, before any other tax rule is looked at, and prints the small business exemption note on every invoice, with the exemption in the tax column in place of a rate. The note names the German rule it was written for. It is not the same as leaving Charge VAT off: both charge nothing, but only this prints the note.

    How it comes
    Off.
    When to change it
    On while you are exempt. The day you register for VAT, switch it off and switch Charge VAT on. Outside Germany, ask your accountant whether the wording is accepted where you are.
    For example
    A one-person shop under the German small business rule chooses it in the setup guide, and every invoice says why it carries no VAT.

    How shops use it

    Tax time for a trade customer

    A garage that buys credits from a master every month

    The garage's accountant wants every invoice of the financial year. The garage owner opens My Invoices, checks the total spent at the top against the bank, and downloads the year's PDFs from the list. Each carries the master's company name, address and tax numbers and the tax for the garage's country, numbered in sequence. Nothing is asked of the master.

    A year of invoices is with the accountant in a few minutes, and the master's inbox is untouched.

    Selling to garages across the border

    An EU shop with business customers in three other member states

    The shop charged its home VAT to everyone and refunded it by hand when a foreign garage complained. The owner switches on the reverse charge and the check of VAT numbers. Each garage adds its number to its billing details; the register confirms it, and from the next purchase the invoice has no VAT line, the garage's number and the reverse charge note. A private customer in the same country is still charged VAT.

    No more refunds by hand, and invoices the garages' accountants accept as they are.

    The invoice that was "missing"

    A shop of one, with no time for paperwork

    A customer paid, saw no invoice in their inbox and wrote to the shop, annoyed. The owner replied with one line: it is on your My Invoices page. The customer opened it, saw the row marked Pending from a minute earlier, refreshed, and the PDF was there. The owner had typed nothing and numbered nothing.

    A complaint closed with a link, because the invoice existed before the customer asked.

    Books that fill themselves

    A German shop whose tax adviser works in Lexware

    The owner pastes the Lexware key, presses Test and reads the company name back. She sends the first three invoices by hand and opens them in Lexware as drafts: the customer, the wording and the rate are right. She switches on automatic sending and, a month later, finalising. The adviser now finds each sale booked under the right contact.

    The quarter's invoices are never typed a second time.

    Where it helps, and its limits

    Where it helps most

    • Every portal that takes money: every paying customer needs invoices, and here they are made and kept without anyone's time.
    • A shop that sells to the trade, where each purchase must have a proper invoice with company details, a VAT number and the right tax.
    • An EU shop with business customers in other member states, who expect the reverse charge and a note that says so.
    • A small business exempt from VAT, whose invoices must say why they carry none.
    • A shop whose accountant works in Lexware or Holded and should not be sent invoices by email.

    What it does not do

    • An invoice is written for a credit purchase or an activation shop order paid on the portal. A job paid in cash at the counter, or a transfer you matched by hand outside the portal, has no invoice here unless it was recorded as a purchase.
    • The portal applies the tax rules you switch on; it does not decide which rules apply to your business. That is your accountant's call, and the wording of the small business note was written for the German rule.
    • The accounting links are Lexware, built for a business in Germany, and Holded. A shop on other software exports its invoices.
    • My Invoices lists and downloads; it does not email an invoice. Country layouts exist today for India only; every other country prints the standard layout.

    Which package

    My Invoices: the customer's page
    In every plan, Start included.
    Invoices settings
    In every plan, Start included.
    VAT and tax settings
    In every plan, Start included.

    Prices in euros, a month, before tax, billed on the 1st. Every price ›

    Questions shops ask

    Which payments get an invoice?
    Credit purchases and activation shop orders, whichever way the customer paid, as soon as the payment is confirmed. The invoice is on the customer's My Invoices page and beside the purchase on the credits page.
    Whose details are on the invoice?
    Yours: the company name, address, contact lines and tax numbers you set in Settings, your logo and colours, your numbering, and the tax worked out for the customer's country. The customer sees your brand and nothing else.
    Why is an invoice marked Pending?
    The payment is confirmed and the PDF is still being made in the background. The row is there so the customer knows it is coming; the download appears when it is ready, usually within moments.
    Can two invoices get the same number?
    No. The number is your prefix, the year and a running number for that year. The portal refuses a number already used and takes the next one.
    I switched VAT on and a test purchase shows no tax. Why?
    Most often the business country is empty, so no rate can be found, or the test customer has no billing country and both fallbacks are off or empty. Set your business country and try again.
    Does the reverse charge take VAT off a business in my own country?
    No. It applies only across a border inside the EU. A business at home pays your VAT and reclaims it, and a confirmed VAT number from your own country changes nothing.
    What if a customer types a made-up VAT number?
    As the portal comes, any number typed counts. Switch on Only checked VAT numbers and the VAT comes off only for a number the EU register confirms, or one you confirm by hand.
    Does a bank transfer add credits by itself?
    No. The IBAN on the invoice tells the customer where to pay, but a transfer arrives at your bank, not at the portal. You match it to the customer and add the credits.
    Can I use my own accounting software as well?
    Yes. Leave invoices on and link Lexware or Holded, and each invoice the portal writes is sent on to it, once. If your own software issues the invoices, switch the portal's invoices off so customers do not get two.
    Which package do I need?
    Invoices, My Invoices and the VAT and tax settings come with every package. The Lexware and Holded links come with Business and above.

    Guides that go deeper

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